


Finding the Gold in Our Darkest Moments

by quartermile



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Olympics, Angst, Artist!Steve, Ballet, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Clintasha - Freeform, Domestic Avengers, F/M, FitzSimmons - Freeform, Fluff, Grant Ward isn't a bad guy, Gymnastics, M/M, Multi, Olympics, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pepperony - Freeform, Philinda - Freeform, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Skye runs track, Stucky - Freeform, archer!clint, copious gymnastics references, dancer!natasha, flangst, gymnast!bucky, runner!skye, shield gym, some gymnasts will make appearances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-03-26 10:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3847984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartermile/pseuds/quartermile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers is just your normal teenage boy. He goes to school and hangs out with his best friends. He has a dream, just as well as everyone else, though having art fanatics have bidding wars over his pieces seems pretty far away. He doesn’t really know how to go about following his dream. Not yet. He’s pretty satisfied pushing through the ends of his school career, being careless with his best friends and dreaming about one day. Until he meets Bucky.</p>
<p>Bucky Barnes doesn’t know the definition of “one day.” For him, it is <em>now</em>. He only knows one way for everything and that is hard work and perseverance to make himself better. I.E. Training, training, training, competing, training, training, training. Oh, and finding time somewhere in there to sleep, eat, and attend school. Bucky is a gymnast. Every day for the last twelve years (give or take a couple sick days and vacations), he has spent upwards of four hours in the gym, training. Blood, sweat, tears, and chalk are definitely in his vocabulary, while quitting is not. Giving up is not an option. To him, every day of his life is leading him to compete in the 2012 London Olympics Gymnastics. He won’t stop until he gets the gold medal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own no one you recognize. Duh. Original characters are my own or may be based off of someone. Loosely inspired by the music video of Coffee Shop Soundtrack by All Time Low. I am not a gymnast myself, however much I may have wished to be, so any information about gymnastics and the Olympics is sourced from the internet. If I portray something incorrectly, or use incorrect information, it _may_ be on purpose, however it may not. So please be nice in correcting me if you must. Most of the time I will put in an author’s note if I have purposely fudged the truth on something. And if you’re a gymnast or have taken gymnastics, feel free to message me with anything I can improve with!
> 
> Also, most of Bucky’s routines will stand a little more on the girl’s gymnastics side of things rather than the boys but that’s mostly because I prefer the Artistic Gymnastics and the boy’s isn’t quite as … artistic to me. So, my apologies if you do not like that his routine is “girly”. That’s just the way I picture it in my head.

_The Balance Beam: teaches a young person to concentrate on where they are going in life. They quickly learn how to put their foot down. And when to leap for their dreams._

*****

  


Steve loves his best friend, Natasha, he really and truly does, but going around from gym to gym all day is definitely not his idea of a good time. Natasha had insisted she needed his artistic opinion and while he’s not sure what art has to do with Natasha finding a new dance studio to train it, but he’d long ago learned that you do not go against the wishes of Natasha Romanoff. 

“Coulson and May sounds more like a law firm than a gym,” Steve says as he walks across the parking lot with Natasha, who’s alternating between looking at the reviews on Yelp and looking over a brochure she’d gotten for the gym. 

“I think it’s actually called Shield Gym,” Natasha replies, “The first floor is a fitness area, memberships are fifty dollars a month. There’s also showers, a pool, a small auditorium with a stage for the children’s ballet recitals, a couple of rooms for volunteer classes of things not already here and a room where Tai Chi and yoga are taught. The second floor is what we want. It’s got a dance studio, a gym, and showers. Apparently that’s what this place is known for – May’s ballet and Coulson’s gymnastics.”

“That’s a strange combination,” he says, stepping ahead and pulling the door open for Natasha, earning a half-hearted glare for the chivalry. She foregoes the elevator and heads immediately for the stairs, shrugging as she goes, “I think they’re married. I guess they just combined the two.”

“Ah,” Steve replies simply with a nod, following her to the landing as they stop, taking in the massive room. 

Each half of the gym makes up about the size of a normal full gym so it’s not like there’s any space poached to divide the two areas.

There are a set of bleachers running the entire length of the front wall. The first half of the gym is obviously the ballet studio. The floor is glossed hardwood that is a very light tan color, almost khaki – yeah that he definitely knows. Points to Steve.

There are two barre setups, one a single and one a double. In the corner there’s a door that presumably leads to a supply closet. There’s a court divider that is pushed flush against the wall but looks as if it hasn’t been used in a while. He’s sure everyone here probably is comfortable with one another, sharing the space and all.

“I like the feel of this place,” Natasha says and Steve replies with a nod. It’s an improvement; every studio they’d been to thus far, Natasha had had some form of complaint about and more often than not, it was that she didn’t like the feeling of the place. He has to admit, the place does feel kind of homey and well-loved.

Natasha’s graceful steps make no sound as she walks across the floor to check out the barre mounted on the wall and Steve continues to check out the place. He might as well, he figures he’ll be spending a lot of time here with Natasha – watching Natasha dance is like an art form in itself. 

On the other side of the divider, the floor is covered in a blue mat. On top of that is a couple of red mats leading to different apparatuses, which by the way, look terrifying to Steve. 

There’s the uneven bars which he knows the name of from watching the Olympics on tv before, and three different balance beams which he is pretty sure everyone knows the name of. There’s a pit of what looks to be very soft foam block that actually look really fun, and perched at the edge of that pit of something that looks sort of like the body part of a mechanical bull (not that he’s ever actually ridden one of those) with a runway of a red mat.

There’s a trampoline with a black square and x in the middle painted on the white canvas, and a big square of floor that looks marked off. Different types of random equipment lines the far wall, what seems to be a chin up bar, rings hanging from a bar which is probably for the same reason, and more mats rolled up. There’s two doors on that side of the gym, one he assumes is a closet, and the other, probably the showers that Natasha’d said there was.

Though no one has really acknowledged the two of them yet, Steve and Natasha aren’t alone in the room.

Three people stand over by the bars chatting. He’s seen the woman take a few looks over but he guesses she was letting them check out the place before speaking, assuming she is one of the owners.

The woman comes walking over then with all the grace of a cat – just like Natasha, wow he feels clumsy in here – and smiles, stopping a few feet short of he and Natasha whom he hadn’t noticed come back over. 

“Everything seem up to standard?” The woman asks with a smile.

“Definitely. I really like this place. The owners of my old studio went back to Russia so I needed to find a new place. I’ve been to almost every studio close by and this is by far my favorite,” Natasha says, holding out a hand to shake, “Natasha Romanoff.”

“Melinda May-Coulson,” The woman introduces, shaking her hand, “Call me Melinda. Feel free to look around as much as you want and ask whatever questions you want. We’ve been affiliated with the New York Ballet and trainees of mine have won several international competitions. I’m available as a trainer or if you have someone else, they are welcome to come in. Also, you have the opportunity to coach some of the younger kids just starting out if that's something you'd want. That's some of our senior dancers favorite part.”

“I don’t think you really have to say anything else to sell me on it now,” Nat laughs, “I’m pretty sold.”

“We’d be happy to call you our newest member, Miss Romanoff. We can discuss the logistics later. You can meet my husband over here.” Melinda says, waving for the two of them to follow her before glancing over to Steve, “will you be joining as well?”

“Oh no no,” Steve replies with a chuckle, though he shoots Nat a dirty look for scoffing at that, “I’m just a spectator. I’m Nat’s best friend.”

“Yeah, you’ll see him around here a lot, too,” Natasha says. 

“Then it’s a pleasure to meet you, Steve,” Melinda says, stopping beside the man she was talking to earlier, who’s watching gymnast flipping on the high bar, swinging his lean body around and doing a handstand on the bar before swinging around again and letting go, catching the lower bar. It's pretty fantastic.

“Phil, this is Natasha. She’s going to transfer here. This is her friend Steve,” Melinda introduces, “This is my husband Phil Coulson. He’s the coach of the gymnastics division.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Phil says, though he doesn’t take his eyes away from the bars until the gymnast is safely on the floor. Phil turns to them then, offering a friendly smile and shaking their hands, “Glad to have you onboard.”

“Thank you sir,” Natasha answers politely and grins at the face Phil makes at the formality.

“That was good but you released too quick and got a little too close to the bar. Any closer and you would’ve had to break form to catch it. That would’ve been one tenth deduction,” Phil says to the boy who walks over to them, chalk dusting from his hands as he takes off his grips.

“Shit,” he mutters.

“Language,” Phil scolds half-heartedly, “Bucky this is Natasha and her friend Steve. Natasha will be moving to Mel’s studio. This is Bucky, our star Elite gymnast. Two time junior world champion, reigning senior world champion, three time national champion, and on track for next year’s Olympic team.”

Bucky smiles proudly but his cheeks color, “Bragging on me, Coach?” he teases, grinning. It’s a cute grin.

Okay. Way more than cute if Steve is honest with himself. The guy is beautiful. All hard muscles and lean figure, long hair tied back in a messy bun, sweaty strands escaping around his face, the tight gym pants he’s wearing. Not to mention he’s apparently practically a celebrity in the world of artistic sports. He’s way out of Steve’s league, okay?

“Of course. You know how proud we are of you?” Melinda says, her arm going around his waist and squeezing.

“Stop it, Ma,” he whines a little, his whole face tinting pink this time. 

“Also add embarrassed of his parents to that list,” Melinda laughs, gently nudging Bucky as he starts to pull at the blue tape wrapped around his wrists.

“You’re really going to the Olympics?” Natasha asks, only the slightest arch of her eyebrow gives off that she’s actually quite impressed by this information.

“Well, I have to qualify at the trials next June. Those will determine who’s on the Olympic team-”

“But Bucky will definitely be on it. He does still have to qualify to be fair but unless he just completely bombs and doesn't land any flip, he’ll be one of the top picks. You don’t just pass up a World Champion for the biggest, most important competition in the world,” Phil says, cocking at eyebrow at his son. 

“Aren’t we supposed to be talking about Natasha? She’s the newbie!” Bucky accuses but there’s not heat in the tease at all. 

“Right. Let’s leave that to Melinda. Come on, Buck. You need to work on your vault,” Phil says, making the boy groan but he obligingly heads over to the thing that Steve had thought looked something like a stripped down mechanical bull.

Melinda laughs at the two retreating figures, waving to Natasha and Steve, “Come on to my office. I’ll give you the paperwork. It’s not too bad, just the normal stuff involved with joining a gym so it doesn’t take too long. We don’t want to leave you in miles of red tape to have a safe, family oriented place to practice and train.”

“Kind of makes me wish I did some kind of physical activity,” Steve says.

“Why don’t you?” Melinda asks curiously.

“I’ve haven’t had the best luck with my health all my life so I probably wouldn’t be able to do anything too straining. Plus, my asthma,” Steve explains, “I do art, though.”

“You any good?” Melinda asks, “We’re looking to paint the entrance downstairs with a mural.”

“He’ll bring you one of his sketchbooks,” Natasha says to stop Steve from telling her he’s no good like she knew he would. He glares at her but she just winks, graceful steps following Melinda back to the office.


	2. Chapter 2

While Natasha fills out her paperwork, Steve can’t help wandering back out to the gym to watch Bucky. Melinda had told him to explore if he wanted and he got the feeling they were all going to get along well and that's a good thing considering he'll probably be here with Natasha a lot - it's not like he has anything better to do - and it would suck if they weren't friendly. While Melinda and Phil both look like stoic, severe people, the both of them are actually quite nice. He thinks maybe it’s the team vibe. When you’re on a team, they’re like family, right?

Steve walks over to the bleachers and sits on the bottom row, leaning back against the one behind him and watching as Phil instructs Bucky again and again through what he now knows as the vault. Footsteps echo through the gym as Bucky thunders down the runway to the vault, jumping on a board at the base that gives him an extra spring and turning a flip. He pops off of the vault with flips and turns that Steve wonders how they don’t make him dizzy before landing on the mat, stepping forward and falling to one knee.

“Not quite enough control on that last flip. You need to push a little harder if you want to turn your Yurchenko into an Amanar,” Phil says, motioning to the end of the runway, “Do it again.”

Bucky nods and walks back to the end of the mat, wiping chalk on the bottom of his feet. Steve can see his chest rise and fall as he takes a big breath and relaxes his shoulders, running down the runway. This time, the flips Bucky does go higher and on the landing this time, he doesn’t move. 

“Nice stick,” Phil says and claps his hands, “Good job, Buck. Do it again.”

Bucky groans.

“Uh uh. Don't do that. We don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong,” Phil says and it’s obviously something he quotes often because Bucky quotes the last part with him, albeit begrudgingly. 

“He acts like it is such a bother,” a voice says suddenly near him and Steve nearly jumps out of his skin, looking over to see a boy and girl walking toward him.

“But it’s mostly for show,” the girl continues, “though repeating the same things over and over does get frustrating.”

“Leo Fitz,” the boy says, holding out a hand as he reaches Steve, “Call me Fitz.” 

“Jemma Simmons,” the girl says immediately after the boy – Fitz speaks.

Steve shakes Fitz’s hand and smiles, “Steve Rogers. Are you guys gymnasts? Or dancers?”

“Oh no no,” Fitz replies, shaking his head, “I can’t do a flip or twirl to save my life.”

“We’re scientists,” Jemma answers, “We’re just here to watch, basically. Our parents own this place.”

Steve cocks an eyebrow then, looking over at the two, “Melinda and Phil?” he questions, “But you’re-” he pauses, not wanting to be rude. He'd wondered as it was that Melinda is Asian while Bucky doesn't seem to be and while he'd assumed maybe he took after Phil, two other children with accents means he can't help but be curious.

“Scottish?” Fitz finishes at the same time that Jemma says “British?”

“Yeah,” Steve nods, ducking his head a little sheepishly. He doesn’t want to insult anyone.

Jemma laughs, “Its fine, Steve. Don’t worry. We get questions all the time. We’re all adopted, Bucky, Fitz, and I. Melinda and Phil are the best parents we could have asked for so it more than makes up for the confusion. Plus, we’re used to it.”

“We’re just here to watch Bucky fall on his bum,” Fitz tells him suddenly, a non sequitur Steve is assuming to change the subject so he doesn’t feel bad for asking.

“Don’t be mean, Fitz,” Jemma scolds, swatting at his elbow.

Fitz just laughs, sitting down beside Steve as Jemma goes up one row and sits above them, “Are you an athlete?” he asks, waving his hand to encompass the whole gym in question.

“No, I’m an artist. Never much cared for sports,” Steve replies.

“Me neither,” Fitz replies, “I got hit in the head with a basketball once when I was eight and got a concussion.”

“It just cemented his hatred for anything athletic,” Jemma continues.

“Oh, like you’ve even ever picked up a ball!” Fitz argues back jokingly.

Steve turns his attention back to Bucky who’s now moved back to the bars. He can’t help but admire the way which Bucky’s body glides through the air. It's so graceful. Every time Bucky lets go of the bar to flip or twist or transition to the other bar, Steve inhales sharply, sure he’s going to hit the floor. Luckily, he catches the bar every time.

Phil is standing closer to the bars now, thrusts out an arm under Bucky’s back as he’s turning a flip and retracts it as soon as he's over the bar.

“What’s he doing?” Steve asks the two sitting beside him curiously.

“He’s spotting. It makes it easier to catch him if he falls and if he loses momentum and doesn’t make the turn, he can help him.” Jemma explains, only briefly glancing up from a textbook she’s reading to see what Steve'd asked about. 

“Oh,” Steve replies with a nod.

“So Steve, if you don’t mind my asking, why are you here if you’re not an athlete?” Fitz asks, chewing on a string of licorice he'd produced from somewhere.

“Oh, I’m here with my best friend Natasha. She was looking for a new ballet studio. She’s in with Melinda now doing the paperwork and probably discussing dances or something,” Steve replies, eyes tracking Bucky’s movements.

“That sounds like Mom,” Fitz says, "Dancing is one thing that all you have to do is mention a pointed toe and she can go off on so many tangents."

"Natasha is like that, too," Steve answers, "She's always trying to tell me about things and I don't understand half of it. I've learned a lot from her but there are still things she tells me that I can't get straight. Or moves that I mix up."

“Oh believe me, I know. Jemma and I both took some classes as kids but neither of use were into it so she let us quit but we learned a lot of the terminology from the classes. I still can't keep up to this day with half of what she says," Fitz replies.

“That's because while she's talking, you're creating formulas in your head or thinking about Mack." Jemma interjects.

"Who's Mack?" Steve asks before realizing he doesn't actually know these two and they could think he's nosy.

“He's my boyfriend,” Fitz continues, accent lilting up on the last word, “he's does weight-lifting.”

“Pretty much everyone we know does some for an Olympic sport or dancing. That's what happens when all of your Dad's friends are coaches he's met during many competitions," Jemma says.

"That's pretty cool, actually," Steve says. Besides Natasha and her boyfriend, Clint, he doesn't really know anyone who's into any kind of sports. Actually, if he's honest, he doesn't really know anyone period. Part of the reason he and Natasha are so close is because neither of them know much of anyone else, what with her constant training and his childhood illnesses. While he's grown out of most of it by now, he still finds it hard to connect with anyone, most of the people in their school steer clear of the three of them. Natasha has a reputation for being a badass with a don't-mess-with-me attitude, and so does her boyfriend. Steve has a won't-take-any-shit reputation himself and with them being practically attached at the hip and Natasha being his sister for all intents and purposes, they both kind of stick out. That's why the easy camaraderie with Jemma and Fitz made it feel as if he'd known them for a long time.

"It can be, until you're tired of listening to the updated regulations and this competition or that competition," she replies, "but it's normal for us now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the short chapter! I just wanted to introduce Fitzsimmons in there (I want to introduce a few people so it's not just Steve and Bucky before all the fun stuff happens!)! Next, we have Natasha’s first day at Shield Gym and Steve sees Bucky again! 
> 
> The [Yurchenko](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjpCHZHuD04) is a somewhat difficult vault done in gymnastics named after Russian gymnast Natalia Yurchenko who first performed it at the 1982 World Cup.
> 
> An [Amanar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScPJhhObthY) is referred to as the most difficult vault to perform in gymnastics named after Romanian gymnast Simona Amanar who first performed it at the 2000 Olympics. The Amanar is made up of multiple Yurchenkos.
> 
> Steve’s description of the vault would almost be correct by calling it a bull. The apparatus which a vault is performed on is called a [horse.](http://gymnastics.isport.com/gymnastics-guides/explaining-the-vaulting-event-in-gymnastics)
> 
> I’d also like to point out that my description of scoring may not be completely accurate. Here is an description of the current [scoring system](https://usagym.org/pages/events/pages/fig_scoring.html) in artistic gymnastics.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gosh guys. I find the starting of a long story so difficult. I either do too much too soon or make it soooooo slow. I'm trying to find a balance. I hope you guys like this chapter! There will be more and more interaction with Bucky as we go along as this story is intended to center around Steve and Bucky, but since they don't really know each other yet, it's going slow. More characters to be introduced as we go along.

“Are you nervous?” Steve asks, walking alongside Natasha into the new gym. She’d again insisted he join her since it’s her first day as if he hadn't planned that himself. He'd much rather spend his day on some moderately uncomfortable bleacher sketching with the familiar sound of the music Natasha plays as she practices and he can watch her when he's bored - he's not ashamed to admit that his psuedo-sister, along with his mom, is the inspiration behind a lot of his art - rather than sit alone at home since Sarah Rogers works weekends.

“Of course not,” she answers almost too fast, “Why would I be?”

“Because it’s your first day at a new gym with a new coach. That’s kind of nerve-wracking,” Steve replies. Her face stays impassive but he just manages to catch the twitch in her jaw. Oh yeah, she’s nervous, “You know, you don’t have to act like it doesn’t bother you.”

“You want to know why I act like it doesn’t bother me?” 

“Why?” He cocks an eyebrow.

“Because it doesn’t bother me,” she deadpans.

Steve rolls his eyes and follows her up to the second floor, “I’ll wait over here,” he says, motioning to the bleachers, watching as she heads off to change and find Melinda. He wonders where Jemma and Fitz are this morning or if they're even out of bed. They'd had fun talking yesterday and become fast friends.

“Starting early, huh?” a voice says and Steve jerks his head up, seeing Bucky’s head peaking up from the pit of foam blocks. He looks as if he's unsure Steve will remember him but Steve is unlikely to forget that gorgeous face any time soon.

He veers off from finding a seat on the bleachers, leaving his messenger bag on the bottom and heads over toward Bucky. He feels the tips of his ears go hot when a breathtaking smile spreads across Bucky’s face.

“Nat likes to get started early. She thinks starting warm-up at the ass crack of dawn is a good idea,” Steve grins.

“I’d say how awful that is but I’ve been here an hour already. The problems when your dad is your coach and owns the gym,” he grins, placing both palms on the floor and hauling himself out of the pit where Steve assumes he was lying, “No one else really shows up for at least another hour or more.”

“Oh, I’m not interrupting you, am I?” Steve asks.

“Oh no, don’t worry. Dad is still in the office with Mom going over the monthly paperwork and stuff. I should be doing conditioning but,” he shrugs and grins again.

“Are you always this horribly chipper in the morning?” Steve teases hoping he doesn't offend and luckily Bucky's grin just widens.

“Not by a longshot,” he laughs, “It’s honestly just nice to have someone around who isn’t so in their head with training, you know? Friends aren’t exactly that easy to come by when you spend up to nine hours a day in the gym, and even harder when they do, too.” 

“Natasha spends so much time in the gym as it is and she doesn’t compete, just dances in shows. And she only does it on the floor, not three other things,” Steve says, wiggling his fingers toward the different apparatuses set up on the floor, “Which one is your favorite?”

Bucky makes a noncommittal noise, “Well the tramp is obviously my favorite but it’s not a competition thing,” he laughs, “The beam is my downfall, really. I’m pretty convinced that it hates me but most gymnasts I know don’t exactly like the beam. Well, except for my friend on the British team, Peggy, she’s a beam specialist and I personally think that makes her certifiably insane. I really enjoy the floor but the bars are my favorite.”

“They look pretty scary,” Steve replies, eyeing the shining metal set-up.

Bucky grabs his elbow and leads him over, grinning softly, “They’re not so bad.” He says, “Grab on.”

Before Steve can even protest, Bucky has his hips and is lifting him toward the lowest bar which is almost even with his head. He lets out a ~~manly~~ squeak but obediently takes hold of the bar, mostly for fear Bucky’s just going to let him go. It’s not like he’ll fall far but he’d really prefer not to embarrass himself, okay?

Bucky lets go and grins, stepping back and crossing his arms, “Now try to move.”

The best he can manage is a strange wiggle and kicking his feet. He laughs and drops down to his feet, “I’m not Mr. Olympics,” he teases.

“It gets easier once you get the general technique down. It’s more than just your legs,” Bucky says, jumping at the bar and catching it in what almost seemed like slow motion.

“Isn’t that going to hurt your hands?” Steve winces, thinking of how the monkey bars at the playground as a kid would hurt his hands and while the part he holds onto isn't metal, it still can't feel good. He remembers the grips Bucky’d had on the first time he saw him.

“It can hurt either way. Even with the grips,” Bucky explains, “I’m not doing much though, and the chalk helps.”

Sure enough, Steve sees the white powder on his palms. He didn’t even notice him do it. He watches in amazement while Bucky shows him simply how to get a good swing going and pull himself up. He just swings back and forth, body limp but somehow in complete control at the same time. 

“James Buchanan! Have you even stretched?”

Bucky cringes and drops to his feet immediately, “I wasn’t doing anything but swinging. I wouldn’t have pulled anything.” He protests. 

“I don’t care. Where are your grips?” Phil asks, cocking an eyebrow and turning to Steve while Bucky sulkily finds a spot on the mat to start stretching, “Good morning, Steve.”

“Hi, Mr. Coulson,” Steve replies a little shyly. He feels like he got Bucky in trouble.

“No Mr. Coulson,” he replies, “Phil or Coach,” he smiles.

“Sorry,” Steve says, “Bucky was just showing me how to move on the bar. Because I couldn’t do it,” he says, feeling like he should apologize for Bucky.

“Oh no worries,” Phil says and glances over to where Bucky is pouting at the mat, “He knows he’s not really in trouble. I think I might have embarrassed him a little.”

“Dad!” Bucky whines.

-=-

Steve’s sitting in the middle of the bleachers, alternating between watching Natasha gracefully move across the floor, mirroring Melinda’s moves and watching Bucky practice under the instruction of Phil. He's already sketched Natasha twice, once with Melinda providing a simple correction to her back, a sketch of Bucky swinging on his bars - not that eh'll ever admit to that one - and sketch of the other various apparatus sitting in that side of the room.

Natasha walks over nearly two hours after they arrive, taking a break. 

“I really like it here,” she tells, her eyes are bright and he swears she may be the closest thing to hero-worshipping Melinda as she ever has been to anyone, “She challenges me and she doesn’t make me do all the baby routines.”

“She knows real talent when she sees it,” Steve replies. 

Natasha just smiles and lowers herself onto the seat beside him, drinking from her water bottle. 

About that time, Bucky’s hands slip from the bar as he grabs it and he lands on his knees on the floor, “Трахать!” he shouts, slapping the mat with both hands angrily. The sound of the bar vibrating over him reverberates across the room, causing Melinda to look over from where she's talking to someone else who'd entered to make sure he's okay.

Natasha sits forward, joining Steve who’d jerked forward as soon as Bucky fell, watching worriedly to make sure he’s okay. It kind of alarms him briefly how worried he is. _Well, it is a dangerous sport,_ he tells himself. 

“He speaks Russian?” Natasha asks, interested.

“That’s what that was?” Steve asks distractedly while he watches Bucky to see if he'd injured himself. He sits back on his legs, resting his hands on his thighs and breathes deeply but doesn't seem to be in pain.

“Yeah,” she nods.

“Buck? You okay?” Phil asks, moving from the side of the bar to his side since he hadn’t gotten up yet.

“Yes,” he says sharply, pushing himself back to his feet and adjusting his grips. He goes back over to the chalk bucket before taking hold of the bottom bar again. 

“He’s good,” Natasha comments, sitting back against the bleachers and eyeing Steve until he does the same.

“You’ve only been here like, two minutes,” Steve laughs.

She rolls her eyes at him, “I know that, but I have been in the same room with him the past two hours and I haven't heard him cursing like that so apparently it wasn't bad.”

“Well I don’t know enough about gymnastics to know what’s good or bad aside from knowing falling off of something isn’t something to be happy about,” he says.

“Well I don’t either, but just from dancing, I can tell that he moves well. Those somersaults are pretty cool, too,” she says, the corners of her lips twisting up into a smirk, “Imagine what he could do in bed.”

“Nat!” Steve shrieks, “You have a boyfriend!”

“I was talking about for you, Stevie,” she laughs, dodging the slap on the arm he tries to land, rising from the bleachers and running back over to her barre.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh! Seeing a little mutual attraction here! I hope you guys are still sticking around for this! We're going to start seeing a lot more of Bucky and probably won't talk as much about Nat's ballet since this story isn't about that! Haha but she's Steve's reason for being at the gym!

The next day is Monday, though, so they have to be at school bright and early instead of the gym. It’s only the second week of school and Steve has already had enough. He’d rather be anywhere but here. For all that he isn’t athletic himself, a dance studio or gym has become a second home to him and he’d much rather be there ~~watching Bucky~~.

“What do you think your mom would say if we wanted to switch schools?” Natasha asks suddenly when the meet at their lockers. 

“Huh? Why?” Steve asks.

“Because this one sucks and the principal isn’t very easy about my schedule. I have to take time off for shows, you know that, and he’s always been an ass about it,” she says.

“I know but why is this coming up now? It’s our last year,” Steve laughs, “We’re seniors now, why is this only now being a problem?”

“Oh, it’s always been a problem,” she replies, “But Melinda was telling me about the school her kids go to. It’s not far from here so it shouldn’t be too much trouble to switch. She says they’re really good about letting Bucky have time off for competitions so he doesn’t have to homeschool or fail and help him work around tests. She said Jemma and Fitz love school so they don’t have to worry about it with them but that it’s a really good school,” she explains, “You know you hate this place, too.”

“I do,” Steve replies, “but I don’t know if convincing Mom will be entirely easy, though. She might not want us to switch since we’re already into the school year.” He says. Even though Natasha is legally emancipated from her parents – something she’d done as soon as she turned fifteen so the state couldn’t remove her from the Rogers’ home where she’d been in foster care at since she was eight – she still thinks of Sarah Rogers as her mom and would not disrespect her wishes if she were to deny them switching schools. 

“Maybe she will. She knows this school isn’t in the best of areas,” Natasha says, “We should talk to her about it. Well, if you even want to?” she asks, though the look she gives him suggests that he better agree. 

Which he does, scary look or not. It would be great to go to a school were maybe it’d be easier to make friends since Clint dropped out of the school he went to long ago after his parents died and works some kind of secret government job – at only eighteen – it’s just the two of them. They would already know Jemma, Fitz, and Bucky and Steve has to admit, it would be really great to go to school with Bucky. Although if he was dating like the head cheerleader or something, it could be torture.

“Let’s talk to her about it when we get home,” he replies and that satisfies her for now.

-=-

It’s the weekend again before Steve gets back to the gym. He’d really missed it, honestly, and he would like to see Bucky. The guy has really inserted himself into most of Steve’s thoughts. 

While Sarah had agreed to let Natasha and Steve switch schools for their senior year, it came with the price of them getting together all the paperwork themselves to bring to her to sign. It’s a pretty easy job, if a little annoying – and Steve doesn’t mind really because his mom does work hard – one of his teachers had refused to turn in his to-date grates to transfer until he finished this full week’s work. While it is only the second week of school, if those didn’t transfer, he’d be two weeks behind once he started the other school and he didn’t want that, so he was forced to stay out of the gym to do homework until he submitted that last paper. 

“-ytime I come in here I see him looking over to find you. He seems pretty disappointed that I’ve been alone all week,” Natasha is saying. Steve’d honestly tuned her out – hey! It’s Friday afternoon! He’s tired! – until that caught his attention.

“Whoa! Wait! What?” he asks, “What are you talking about?”

She laughs, loud enough that people walking around them glance over at them. Well, it doesn’t help that she’s stripping down to her leotard walking down the street. She’d put it on before they left school but left her clothes over it until they got off campus so they didn’t try to give her detention for indecency or some shit.

“I figured that would get your attention,” she grins, nudging him, “Yes, he looks for you every time I come in. Now get your head out of your ass and grow some balls and actually talk to the boy. I think he likes you.”

“He barely knows me, Nat,” Steve sighs.

“So? You barely know him and you like him,” she declares, “Just talk to him, Steve. You don’t have to ask to have his babies. Just chat.”

“He’s probably busy and I have talked to him before.” Steve protests.

“Yeah, for like two minutes. Talk to him again, and he’s not busy all that time. So talk to him,” Natasha commands and that’s the end of that conversation because then they’re walking into the gym and up the stairs. 

There’s a group of small girls – and three boys – wearing leotards that erupt into chaos when they see Natasha, all running for her. Ahh, the class she’d said she’s helping with.

He neatly steps out of the oncoming children, heading for his normal spot on the bleachers, in the middle of both floors.

He doesn’t pay much attention to Natasha and her class of mini-mes. He watches Bucky, who’s of course already at the gym and on his bars.

Steve can really tell that this is Bucky’s favorite. He’s so graceful, flipping through the air between the bars with such ease that the tricks look far simpler than they really are. Long, lean legs extend out in front of him, bending up to stretch in a perfect v around his body as he circles around the low bar. Steve watches, standing from his spot and walking closer, as Bucky transfers from the low bar back to the high bar and swings around it twice before letting go and cutting through the air and a completely flat position, landing on his feet. He hops forward just slightly, before throwing his arms in the air, fingers splayed out. 

Steve claps, making Bucky jump and look around for the source of the noise apparently not realizing anyone had been watching him, “That was beautiful,” he can’t help but tell him. He notices those things; he’s an artist, alright?

Bucky fucking _beams_ , turning to him and pulling at the Velcro strap holding the grip on his wrist, “Hey Steve! Where’ve you been?”

“School work,” he grins, “Teacher giving me a hard time about my transfer. But seriously, that was amazing.”

“You think so? That’s my new routine I’ll be performing this competition season,” Bucky says, squinting his eyes as he looks back at the bar, “I still can’t figure out if I want to keep that double layout in there or do a double back.”

“Wow, I have no idea what you just said,” Steve tells him honestly, earning him the most adorable _giggle_ from Bucky.

“A double layout is the dismount I just did. It’s easier than a double back but a double back gets you more difficulty. I can’t always land those, though, so I have to figure out if I want to go for the difficulty points or with something I know I can land, if not stick which will give me something in execution,” he says, shaking his head then grins, dropping his grips onto the side of the chalk bowl, pulling at the tape on his arms as chalk puffs from his hands, “You’re transferring schools? Where to?”

“Natasha and I are switching to Westview High from BHS,” he explains, pretending not to already know that’s where Bucky and his siblings go, “We didn’t exactly get on well at BHS.”

“Westview? No way! That’s where I go!” Bucky exclaims, looking completely ecstatic. 

“Really? At least we’ll know someone there!” Steve grins, “Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty alright. I’ve never had that much problem when I’ve taken off days for competitions, so that’s good. Fitzsimmons hate missing school but even they can take off pretty easily when they go with us,” he explains, “and-”

“Fitzsimmons?” Steve interrupts.

Bucky chuckles, “Yeah. Jemma and Leo- you met them right? We’ve called them that forever. They act like they’re twins and always finish each other’s sentences like they’re one person so everyone refers to them as one.”

“Wow,” Steve grins, “Yeah, I met them. They were really nice.”

“Well you’ll know all of us at Westview. You’ll meet Mack and Trip, too. They’re both really nice so I’m sure you’ll get along with them pretty well,” Bucky says then catches himself realizing that he’s talking about people that Steve don’t know, “Mack is Fitz’s boyfriend and Trip is Gemma’s. Mack’s a weightlifter and Trip is a swimmer.”

“Damn, is there something in the water in this neighborhood? Everyone is an athlete,” Steve teases.

“Seems like it, right?” Bucky laughs, “Nah, we probably would never even have met those guys if Phil wasn’t friends with their coaches from old stuff.” 

“It’s still cool. I’m glad you guys have people around you to relate to,” Steve says. It must be nice to be friends with other athletes who understand the stress and time it takes to put your life into a sport. Again, he wishes he was healthy enough to throw himself into something like that. Hell, he would love to do the things Bucky does. Everything he does is so graceful. So beautiful. He’s healthier now, hey, maybe he can start working out so he won’t be a twig.

“Buck, have you practiced y- oh hey Steve!” Phil greets with a smile, turning back to Bucky, “Sorry to cut your fun short, you can talk later. Hop up on the bar, Bucky. Show me your routine.”

Bucky throws him an apologetic look but Steve smiles, shaking his head to try and convey that it’s okay. He understands that Bucky has to practice. From the little he’s managed to research between homework, gymnastics is a competitive sport. He wishes Jemma or Fitz was around so he could ask more about the sport. He’s found himself wanting to know as much as he can about it.

After he sits himself down on the bleachers, he makes himself tear his eyes away from the gymnast not wanting to look like a creep.

The children in tutus are sitting around Natasha and another, lighter red haired girl, watching them in awe. It’s actually really adorable but the other girl looks like she could be just as fierce as Natasha and therefore very intimidating.

Bucky’s mounting the shorter bar again, swinging around it once, twice, swinging up to the higher bar- when did he stop watching Natasha and back to Bucky? He just can’t help it, alright? That lithe body flying through the air, bending and popping open like a jacknife to catch ahold of the bars. 

Shit. Does he have it bad or does he have it bad?

Screw it. He’s not even going to try to keep his attention away. Bucky isn’t paying attention to him anyway.

“Pak Salto!” Phil calls out and Steve watches as Bucky transfers back to the low bar with a curve in his back in a jump that Steve is sure he won’t catch hold, but he does, luckily. He pulls him back above the bar, swinging around it and pulling his legs up around his body, “Back up!” 

Bucky does a handstand on the low bar and swings back around, letting go and twisting in the air to grab the higher one.

Steve gasps as even he can tell Bucky doesn’t get close enough to grab correctly. Once hand catches the bar and his other slips off, swinging him sideways before he drops off to his feet. 

“You leaned to the side too early. You didn’t get enough momentum,” Phil tells him. Steve can see Bucky’s lips moving, probably grumbling and cursing to himself but either Phil can’t hear it or he ignores it, going on with corrections that Steve can’t really keep up with. Bucky doesn’t look too upset besides the initial grumbling and mounts right back onto the bar. 

“Stop trying to show off, James,” Phil scolds when Bucky falls over backwards on his first handstand on the bar, swinging under the bar for a moment before letting go and landing on his feet like the first time. 

“Don’t call me James,” Bucky snaps, face pinched in frustration. Steve kind of hopes he’s showing off for him. He thinks he might be. Who else would he be showing off for? The girls on the other side in front of their class of little ones are blocked by the partition in the middle.

Phil rolls his eyes that Steve can see from halfway across the gym, “You’re over-rotating. You know you can hit those handstands. You’re going to do it until you do it right,” he says. 

Steve can see the grumbling again as Bucky goes back to the bucket of chalk, rubbing a block of white over his grips. He slaps his hands together making a puff of chalk around him. It’s quick and far away but Steve sees it when he flicks stormy grey eyes up to the bleachers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys don’t think Phil is being mean or anything, but if you know much about gymnastics, or probably coaching of any form, he has to be firm. Especially with a moody teenager. 
> 
> If you guys want, I am thinking about posting a separate piece just for the characters, their ages, and relationships. Or I might wait until more are introduced!


End file.
